Chapter 141: Fighting for Hetao (VI)

The crystal clear hexagonal snowflakes feel completely different in the eyes of different people.

For the majority of herders, blizzards are a complete natural disaster. Safely spending winter is an important part of their prayers to the gods. If the blizzard is too violent and the cattle and sheep die too much, it indicates that there will be beeps and smoke everywhere on the Central Plains border. Looting the towns and villages of the Central Plains is a helpless and necessary choice for the people of the Central Plains who rely on the land to make a living. A heavy snow in winter is a good thing. The heavy snow is like a droplet killing, freezing the pests to death, and also provides an important source of water. Therefore, the people of the Central Plains call snow auspicious snow, and there is also a saying that auspicious snow indicates a good harvest.

Nowadays, several troops on the banks of Qingshui River also have different feelings about the white heavy snow. Zhang Luojie was eager to arrive at Tongxin City, but the snow hindered the army's march. These pure white snow was as annoying as the mud on the trail. Compared with the imperial guards of the Guards, the Dangxiang people were able to adapt to the snow climate. They bit the guards like snow wolf, and the snow became their helpers. For Chen Meng and his soldiers who had completed the task, they thought that they could drink the hot soup when they returned to the camp. The soldiers were relaxed along the way, but the snow was also unique in their eyes. Many of the Black Eagle Army soldiers who went from Tongxin City to Daniuguan to welcome the imperial envoy were married. Many of them became relatives of Black Eagle Army veterans. They had no feelings for Baixue, but they fucked the eight generations of ancestors of the imperial envoy in their hearts.

Hou Dayong was the northwest camp recruiting envoy, the chief lieutenant of the procuratorate, and the governor of Xiongsheng Army. Of course, he would not put down his military affairs and go out of the city to welcome the imperial envoy. However, the imperial envoy represented His Majesty, and Hou Dayong entrusted Shi Hu, the deputy governor of Xiongsheng Army, to go out of the city to welcome the imperial envoy.

As soon as the sky was dawn, Shi Hu led the Three Hundred Black Eagle Army and set out slowly towards the direction of Daniuguan, because there were still a small group of Dangxiang people moving along the way. According to the habit of marching, the Black Eagle Army still sent fifty scouts to explore the way forward.

Shi Hu is a person with a steady personality. He did not receive the imperial envoy. After walking for two hours, he still did not receive the imperial envoy. According to the distance between Daniu Pass and Tongxin City, the two teams set off at the same time and should be able to see the above after walking for two hours. This made Shi Hu feel alert. Although there was no main force of the Dangxiang people land within a hundred miles of the main park of Tongxin City, the small troops of the Dangxiang people were active everywhere on the Qingshui River, and they still had strong attack power. The coalition forces encircled and suppressed them several times.

If the imperial envoy was not able to kill all these small troops in one go, if the imperial envoy was robbed and killed by these Dangxiang people, what was the face of the camp in the northwest? Although Hou Dayong asked himself to send soldiers to dress up as Dangxiang people, the purpose was to intimidate the imperial envoy. It made the imperial envoy feel that although Dangxiang is defeated, a team of elite soldiers should still be guarded in order to maintain peace in the northwest. However, the Jiedushi would never tolerate the imperial envoy being hurt by Dangxiang people. Therefore, Shi Hu ordered the soldiers to run to Daniu Pass at full speed.

Not long after moving forward at full speed, two black cavalry riders appeared in front of him. The two riders were extremely fast, and the horse's hooves splashed everywhere. After the rider immediately came to Shi Hu to stop, the two cavalry saluted on the horse. "Not far ahead, the Dangxiang people and the guards were fighting fiercely, and the vanguard team had already rushed up." Shi Hu's heart tightened and asked, "How many Dangxiang people?" A personal guard said: "The two sides were mixed together and could not see more than a hundred Dangxiang people."

Because he heard that the Dangxiang people and the imperial guards of the guards were entangled, Shi Hu raised his long sword and ordered: "Get out the knife and charge." Two hundred and fifty black eagle soldiers rushed towards the battlefield like a whirlwind.

Ning Cong and Tuoba Guangyuan were covered in blood. Seeing that the Zhou army was getting fewer and fewer than the last dozen Zhou army were extremely fierce. They gathered together tightly and fought to the death, but they could not do anything to them for a while.

Suddenly, a rapid sound of horse hooves came from the direction of Tongxin City. At the same time, the Zhou army shouted, "The Black Eagle Army is here, the Black Eagle Army is here." The soldiers of the guards, who were already exhausted, were greatly energetic, and several Dangxiang people were chopped down one after another.

Ning Cong was alert. When he saw Zhou army coming to reinforcements, he shouted, "Don't fight, retreat to the Wild Wolf Valley." Tuoba Guangyuan heard Ning Cong's shouting, although he was unwilling to accept it, he also ordered: "Retreat, retreat to the Wild Wolf Valley."

The rider rushing from behind was the scout of the Black Eagle Army. They had experienced combat experience. When they saw the guards and soldiers entangled with the Dangxiang people, they did not take out the Huanghua crossbow, but held the cold Hou family sword and rushed towards the Dangxiang army.

The men led by Ning Cong and Tuoba Guangyuan were all fish that escaped under the heavy encirclement of the coalition forces. Of course, they were all covered with pebbles on the vegetable oil field, hard and slippery. When they heard the sound of horse hooves behind them, they had the intention to escape. When the two leaders spoke separately, these Dangxiang people rushed to the guards in front of them with weapons. After the attack of the guards in the guards was blocked, the Dangxiang people turned their horses and fled to the direction of the Wolf Valley.

When Shi Hu led the Black Eagle Army to the battlefield, he saw the imperial envoy Ling Shi. Ling Shi was surrounded by the guards at the core of the battle formation. The two Black Eagle Army soldiers were still following Shen Huaijing's orders and followed Ling Shi closely. Ling Shi was still holding the round card tightly, looking at the battlefield with broken limbs and broken arms in a daze. The blood flowing everywhere was particularly dazzling by the snow-white surroundings.

Shen Huaijing's left arm was bleeding. He endured the pain and came to Shi Hu. Before he could speak, Shi Hu waved his hand and said lightly: "If you have something to go back and say, bandage your arm first." Chen Meng was sent by Shi Hu. He was worried that Shen Huaijing would see the flaw and accidentally said the wrong thing, so he did not leave Shen Huaijing a chance to speak.

Shi Hu jumped off his war horse, came to Ling Shi, bowed and said, "I'm going to take the lead, which scared the imperial envoy."

Ling Shi had heard of the name of Shi Hu, the deputy governor of Xiongsheng Army. Shi Hu and Hou Dayong went deep into the camp of Cangzhou Army alone, killed Liu Hai, the garrison commander, and successfully quelled a rebellion. This story has become a legend in the Great Zhou army. Ling Shi tried his best to remain calm in front of this legendary figure, but when he was dismounting his horse, he was tripped by the corpse on the ground, his legs became weak, and he almost fell a big fall.

At this time, Ling Shi's underwear wet with urine was coldly pressed against her body, which was really uncomfortable. However, Ling Shi could not tell anyone about his pain and said with a forced smile: "It's time for General Shi." After saying this, he couldn't say the next polite words. Ling Shi was a civil servant and had a very superficial understanding of the Great Zhou army. In his mind, the Imperial Guards of the Palace Front Office and the Imperial Guards of the Great Zhou army were the most dangerous troops in the Great Zhou army. He couldn't help but say: "These Dangxiang people actually dared to attack the Imperial Guards of the Great Zhou. They were really brave and fearless."

Shi Hu saw the imperial envoy's face pale and his teeth were trembling constantly. He knew that it was the first time he had seen such cruel close combat, which was also the process that most new recruits had to go through. Therefore, Shi Hu did not look down on Ling Shi and said, "This is true for the Hu tribe in the Northwest. They grew up on horseback. They were all born warriors, which was really difficult to deal with."

At this time, Zhang Luoge, the commander of the Guards, came to the two of them with blood-stained waist knife, with bloody eyes red. The Guards lost most of the losses in just a short time, which made Zhang Luoge feel a little lost. He said to Shi Hu blankly: "Give me two thousand troops, I will kill all the Dangxiang people." Shi Hu was very appreciating the courage of the Commander of the Guards. He asked: "How is the casualties of the guards of the Guards?" Zhang Luoge said hoarsely: "Every soldier is injured, and 209 people are killed."

Shi Hu was silent for a while and said in his heart: Most of the three hundred guards were killed, which was a heavy casualty. However, such heavy casualties did not collapse in the entire army. The combat effectiveness of the Guards' Army should not be underestimated. However, he comforted him: "There are many corpses left by Dangxiang people, and they did not take advantage of them."

Tongxin City was originally a military city. There were no teahouses, restaurants, and no other entertainment methods or facilities. Therefore, welcoming the imperial envoy into the city became a happy event. Dangxiang women heard that an envoy from His Majesty the Great Zhou Dynasty came from the distant capital. They were very curious, wearing the best clothes, and were also waiting in the city to welcome the imperial envoy.

When the imperial envoy entered Tongxin City, the crowd suddenly became quiet while watching the excitement. The one who walked in front was the remaining soldiers holding the White Tiger Flag, followed by more than a hundred war horses. The bodies of soldiers were placed horizontally on these war horses, and behind these war horses were the Black Eagle Army soldiers wearing distinctive armor.

When Hou Dayong saw this scene, he was shocked and his first thought came to his mind: Could it be that Chen Meng had raided these guards? However, Hou Dayong immediately denied his thoughts. Chen Meng followed him for nearly two years. Chen Meng was brave in fighting, but he was not a wise man. He would not turn harassment into a bloody battle. Hou Dayong thought to himself: This must be done by the Dangxiang people. These Dangxiang people are very cooperative in their work. Ling Shi personally experienced the experience of the Dangxiang people, and it would be more explanatory to go back to report the situation on the front line to Chai Rong.

Since seeing the fierce battle between the Dangxiang people and the guards, the imperial envoy Ling has learned from the bottom of his heart that the hardships of the war in the northwest were the ones. Although he was an imperial envoy, his official position was not high and he did not dare to show off his airs in front of the famous Hou Dayong, and honestly completed the errands assigned by His Majesty, and did not dare to make any more requests.

After the imperial envoy Ling Shi finished his own choreography, the mission of the northwest camp was over.

Yongxing Army, which had lost more than half of the loss on the Qingshui River, was resting in Tongxin City. Wang Yanchao was the head of Jingzhao Prefecture and was experts in both military and political aspects. He was very puzzled by Hou Dayong's move to Tongxin City. Although Hou Dayong was a royal relative, he was the governor of Xiongsheng Army and had exhausted his belongings in Fengzhou. How could he live in the future? When the imperial envoy read out the imperial edict, Wang Yanchao realized that he had been transferred to Fengxiang Prefecture. Although Fengxiang Prefecture was better than Fengzhou, compared with Jingzhao Prefecture, he was one in the sky and the other on the ground. Wang Yanchao was depressed and suddenly realized that Hou Dayong must have known the situation of the transfer, so he came to a big move.

Wang Yanchao could no longer stay in Tongxin City. Although His Majesty only allowed to take away the Yashang, the number of Yashang soldiers in the town was not fixed. The Yashang soldiers of Jingzhao Mansion said it was 5,000, and there were basis for 10,000 people. Therefore, Wang Yanchao wanted to rush back to Jingzhao Mansion as soon as possible, and brought more Yashang soldiers and more money away. In this way, life would be better after arriving in Fengxiang Mansion. Wang Yanchao was a little dissatisfied with Hou Dayong not saying hello in advance. He shook off Hou Dayong's enthusiasm to keep him, and hurried back to Jingzhao Mansion with Yongxing Army.

Li Fang led 4,000 Fengzhou Army, who was originally responsible for the food supply of the Northwest Alliance Army, after receiving the imperial edict, he handed over this important task to Li Man, who was the Black Eagle Army, and also hurried back to Fengzhou with the Fengzhou Army.

Because of Guyuan, Tongxin was occupied by the Zhou army. The status of the important border towns on Qingzhou has changed. In this adjustment of the towns in the northwest, there was nothing happening in Qingzhou. In order to rely on the big tree of Hou Dayong, Wu Songzhong led three thousand infantry troops and stayed loyally on the banks of Qingshui River. When the Banzhou army left, the Qingzhou army was adjusted to defend the food road.

At this time, Hou Dayong had 13,000 troops and horses: 4,000 Black Eagle Army, 4,000 Fengzhou Army stationed in Bailang Camp, and 2,000 Independence Army composed of Qingzhou Cavalry, and 3,000 Qingzhou Infantry Army in Wu Songli.

In the imperial edict, Chai Rong asked Hou Dayong to maintain an elite force of about 20,000 people in Lingzhou, resist Dangxiang in the west, and the Uighur Hu tribes, restrain Dangxiang in the east, and resist the Liao people in the north, and effectively stabilize the northwest direction so that the court can concentrate its efforts to pacify the south.

With the imperial edict, Hou Dayong began to expand the army with confidence, and the new Black Eagle Army was soon formulated: the new Black Eagle Army had a total of 20,000 people, consisting of 4,000 Black Eagle Army, Fengzhou Army stationed in Bailang Camp, 2,000 independent army and 8,000 Lingzhou Army.

In February of the fourth year of Xiande, all the Jiedu governors took their place. Hou Dayong also officially moved into Lingzhou City and exercised the power of the Jiedu governor of Sufang.

During this period, Hou Dayong ordered the Feiying Hall Meng Shu to increase the public relations efforts against Sima Ling, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and as a large sum of money flowed into Sima Ling's mansion, one by one, the transfer orders were sent to the northwest, and the old teams of Zhengzhou such as Wang Jiang, Chen Renyi, Huo Zhixing, Shan Zongyuan, Liang Shouheng and other Zhengzhou were transferred to Lingzhou one after another.

Since the late Tang Dynasty, the power of the Jiedushi has expanded dramatically, and one of the manifestations is the expansion of the power of the employer. Most of the military positions of the Jiedushi's army and the civil servants in the envoy's office were appointed by themselves. The prescribed civil servants include marching Sima, deputy envoy, judge, supervisor, chief secretary, etc. Among them, those who hold important positions can also perform the power of the Jiedushi. Those who are second-class can be appointed as acting prefectures and counties. These are called "Minister Office" and "Local Office" and "No official rank, so such people must have the titles of "Minister Office" and "Civilian". There is no limit to the origin of the Gu Du, and literati can apply for the job regardless of whether they pass the Jinshi or not. Under certain conditions, they can also be recommended to the central government. In fact, many literati after the mid-Tang Dynasty have advanced as staff.

After Chai Rong became emperor, he constantly restricted and weakened the power of the Jiedu. At the end of the third year of Xiande, Chai Rong accepted the use of human rights to the central government. First, the prefectures and county officials had to be appointed by the central government. Later, the military positions of the subordinate troops of the Jiedu and the civilian positions in the envoy's office, such as the Observer Judge, the Marine Sima and other positions, were appointed by the central government, which greatly restricted the use of human rights to the Jiedu.

Hou Dayong was deeply harmed by Chai Rong's acquisition of power. The positions he originally appointed had to spend money to settle now. This made Hou Dayong really unhappy: Why did I become the governor? The power of the governor became so small? However, deep down, Hou Dayong was positive about Chai Rong's approach. If the central government had no authority and the power of the governor could not be restricted, then for the empire, division would be inevitable.

Hou Dayong devoted himself to the craze for building a new Lingzhou and new unity. Qiu Ju, Xiao Lu, and Chunlan left Fengzhou, but did not go north to Lingzhou, but returned to Daliang. However, Qiu Ju and Chunlan were used to being masters in Fengzhou. After thinking of Daliang, they had to face Fu Ying, who was superior, and felt a different feeling in their hearts. When Qiu Ju and Chunlan arrived in Zhengzhou, they discussed and lived in the Hou Mansion in Zhengzhou.

It took Hou Dayong a long time to learn about these housework. Just when Qiu Ju and her party lived in Zhengzhou, the new Black Eagle Army completed the reorganization. With the lesson of the three-three system, Hou Dayong reorganized the Black Eagle Army according to the general organization of the Tooth Soldiers. There is an advantage in using Tooth Soldiers to organize. According to the convention since the Tang Dynasty, the Tooth Soldiers are tied with the main general, so there is no need to worry that the people who have just been trained will be transferred away with an order.

The new Hei Diao Army and Local Areas are organized as: the Jiedu-Jiang-Battle-Main-Friends. The Jiedu-Jiang-Main-Friends are the head commander, the army has a commander, the battalion has a commander, the capital has a military commander, the deputy army envoy (cavalry); the Dutou and the deputy head (infantry).

The New Black Eagle Army has fifty people, each with one hundred people, each with five hundred people, each battalion, and each with two thousand or three thousand people. The entire army has a total of six ordinary troops, each with two thousand people, called the six armies of tiger, wolf, bear, dragon, dragon, and leopard, and there are two more strengthening armies, each with three thousand people, called the Lion and Eagle Army.

The commander of the new Black Eagle Army is Hou Dayong, the deputy commander is Shi Hu, Guo Jiong, the commander of the Lion Army, and He Wulang, the commander of the deputy commander; Wang Jiang, the commander of the Eagle Army, and Tie Chuanyuan, the commander of the ordinary army, Shan Zongyuan, the commander of the Tiger Army, and Chen Meng, the commander of the Wolf Army, Kuang Cao, the commander of the Wolf Army, and Yang Tianpan, the commander of the Xiong Army, Jiang Hui, the commander of the deputy commander Zhou Qing, the commander of the Dragon Army, and Hu Li, the commander of the Dragon Army, and Liu Shixu, the commander of the Dragon Army, Duan Wuwei, the commander of the Deputy Commander of the Dragon Army, and Nanchuan, the commander of the Deputy Commander of the Leopard Army, Chen Renyi, and the commander of the Deputy Commander of the Leopard Army.
Chapter completed!